Burlington Coat Factory breaks ground on new headquarters

Construction was set to officially begin today on the new corporate headquarters for Burlington Coat Factory, the longtime South Jersey-based discount clothing retailer.

The 41-year-old company plans to move into a new 215,000-square-foot office building in Florence Township, not far from its current headquarters, thanks to a $40 million state tax credit that helped keep it from moving its base to Pennsylvania. A news release from the company said the building will house more than 800 employees.

Thomas Kingsbury, the company's president and CEO, was scheduled to join acting Gov. Kim Guadagno and others at a groundbreaking ceremony today at the undeveloped 50-acre construction site. The facility is scheduled to be complete in July 2014.

Burlington was among the first recipients last year of a tax credit under the Grow New Jersey program, enacted about five months earlier. The state Economic Development Authority awarded the company a $40 million, 10-year credit as an incentive for retaining 626 jobs, rather than moving them to Pennsylvania, and adding 120 more.

Burlington Coat Factory has more than 500 stores in 44 states and Puerto Rico, according to a news advisory for the groundbreaking.